NYC officials pull the plug on planned vibrator giveaway

New York
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As a long time New York resident said, "only in New York". She was referring to a planned two day vibrator giveaway being canceled by city officials.

After heavily promoting the vibrator giveaway on their facebook page, Trojan Vibrations, a part of the well known Trojan Condom company, planned on giving away 5,000 of the Tri-Phoria device and 5,000 of the Pulse. The giveaway, which is part of the companies campaign to "normalize" the use the vibrators, was planned to take place Wednesday and Thursday of this week at two "Pleasure Carts" deployed in Manhattan .

The "Pleasure Carts" were to be located in the Flatiron District and near the South Street Seaport on Wednesday, and then moved to new locations on Thursday. According to a statement issued by Bruce Weiss, Trojan’s vice president for marketing, “We’re always looking for ways to advance this effort by fostering an open dialogue about sexual health and creating unique moments that get people ‘buzzing’ about sex and pleasure.” Weiss went on to say, “What we’re doing is taking something like a hot dog cart that is so everyday and so mainstream... We’re showing people that vibrators are mainstream.”

However, during the scheduled giveaway on Wednesday, nearly 300 people were reported to be lined up at a pleasure cart on Pearl Street to receive their free vibrators. According to the New York Post, the giveaway was shut down due to the size of the crowd that had gathered.

Residents of New York line up to receive free vibrator

New York Post

One New Yorker expressed her displeasure with the city shutting down the giveaway, saying “There’s a lot more important things the city should be worried about than a free-vibrator giveaway,” complained Park Slope bar owner Melody Henry, 42. “Bloomberg doesn’t want anyone to have fun. You can’t have a giant soda. You can’t have a vibrator.”